Social Justice

This past week the class discussed a concept known as "white privilege", a socially-taboo subject infamous for stirring uneasy feelings and uncomfortable glances.  Much of the discussion was focused on why it is bad, how it can be fixed, what people can do about it, etc.  However, one of the things that came up in class was that "it isn't bad, it just is", an idea that I agree with wholeheartedly.

White privilege is the idea that because Caucasians live in a society where they are the dominant race, they have societal advantages because society is designed to benefit them and the expense of other races.  This is present in many situations, such as unequal pay scales in the job market, over-representation in politics, and more relatable educations, among other things.  Indeed, this is present everywhere, including my own parents who have had difficulty with job interviews.  As horrible as it may sound, I do not think this is a particularly pressing issue that needs to be dealt with.  For starters, as discussed in class, this system is not the product of a group of white people plotting against every other race-it is simply the society that developed from certain influences, and it just happens to be the society in which we live right now.  More importantly, I think the system is a logical and inevitable part of life that, even if we tried, cannot be changed.  The way that certain societies develop can be attributed to a variety of factors, including the race of people who founded that society, and it makes logical sense for a. the dominant race to be privileged (privilege and dominance being associated for this purpose) and b. the dominant race to develop their own society around themselves.  To me this is just common sense.  For example, in American society I am an immigrant, a minority, and of course I would be at a disadvantage if I did not know the language, societal norms, or anything else.  In China, I am part of the societal majority, where I can go places labelled in my language, eat food to my liking, and converse easily with other people that look like me.  Yet, the notion of there being "Asian privilege" or "yellow privilege" is absurd.

I think that privilege in general is relative to the society, because it makes sense that each society would be designed to benefit its respective dominant race.  It is only in the United States that the idea of racial privilege would be regarded as such a pressing issue because there are so many races competing against one another.  Personally, I can accept this as a fact of life because it is the way society is designed.